Types of evaluations

There
are several types of
evaluations/assessments that can be done by school systems or
independently. This
webpage describes eleven type of assessments/evaluations. If the school is
evaluating your child, they must be evaluated in ALL the areas of suspected
disability.

If you have received
"EVALUATION CONSENT
FORM", (form called Attachment to N
1) in the mail. Before
you sign and return this form,
you can request a "pre-evaluation conference" to talk with a
school professional(s) about the 5 W's (Who, What, When, Where, Why) who will conduct each evaluation, what
evaluations/tests would be helpful, when will your child be taken out of classes
to be tested and where will your child be given the test/evaluations and who
will be explaining why the evaluations are happening? These are the
assessments/evaluations that can be listed on the Consent form (N1), it
may include these but are not limited to what is printed on the
(Attachment to N
1) form.

As
stated in Special Education Regulation:
28.04(1)(c) School
districts shall provide the student's parents with an
opportunity to consult with the Special Education Administrator or
his/her designee to discuss the reasons for the referral, the content
of the proposed evaluation, and the evaluators used.

The
Pre-evaluation conference, a description of the evaluations and special
education process are all
listed in the 'Parent's
Guide to Special Education Manual' by Federation for Children and
Department of Education (DOE), 12/10/01.

(If
the text is underlined,
click-on it to take you to another webpage for more detail.)1. Educational Evaluation - an assessment of reading, written language, spelling and math.The reading evaluation includes
assessment of word analysis skills (word attack, decoding), word
recognition, oral reading rate, and comprehension. Educational
Testing will serve as a baseline against which future progress can be
measured.

One of the commonly administered individual educational achievement
tests is the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-Educational
Battery-Revised (Click here, for more detail on Woodcock-Johnson
subtests and cluster scores, WJ-R
or WJ-III.), another is the Wechsler
Individual
Achievement Test (WIAT) and for reading is the Gray Oral Reading
Test (GORT) are all used by the Concord
school district.

Dept. of Education defines an "Educational Assessment" of the
student's educational progress and status in relation to the general
education
curriculum and the district curriculum as well consistent Massachusetts
Curriculum Frameworks and the assessment conducted by a certified
educator(s)
and the special education regulation
603 CMR
28.04(2).

2. Psychological Evaluation - Is an
intelligent test, it measure general cognitive ability.Dept. of Education defines an "psychological Assessment" by an
authorized psychologist or school psychologist including an individual
psychological examination and culminating in specific
recommendations.
Sensory, motor, language, perceptual, attentional, cognitive,
affective,
attitudinal, self-image, interpersonal, behavioral, interest, and
vocational
factors are evaluated in regard to the child's maturity, integrity and
dynamic
interaction within the educational context. The assessment is
based on the
child's developmental and social history, diagnostic observation of the
child in
a familiar surroundings (such as a classroom) and psychological testing
as
indicated. Psychological testing may include, but is not limited
to: intelligence
testing, educational achievement testing, personality
evaluation, a
vocational interest evaluation, assessment of brain damage, and
neuropsychological examination.

A. Cognitive
part of the
assessment, there are 3 different Wechsler Intelligence assessment
that may be used, depending on age of the student:

The Wechsler Preschool and
Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI) for children ages 3 -
7 1/4 years

Age Range: 3 to
17 years, adolescents aged 12
to 17 years can use the self-report forms. Time: Long
version 15 to 20 minutes; Short version 5 to 10 minutes; Auxiliary
Scales 5 to 10 minutes Administration:
Individual, Teacher,
Parent QuestionnairesParent Version , 80-item long form for parents (CPRS–R:L)
and 27-item short form for parents (CPRS–R:S)Teacher Versions , 59-item long
form (CTRS–R:L) for teachers and 28-item short form for teachers
(CTRS–R:S)Self-Report Forms for Adolescents, 87-item Conners-Wells' Adolescent
Self-Report
Scale-Long (CASS:L) and 27-item
short version (CASS:S) Short form reports 4 symptoms
categories: Oppositional,
Cognitive Problems/Inattention, Hyperactivity, and AD/HD index.Long
form includes 14 symptoms categories: Oppositional,
Cognitive Problems/Inattention, Hyperactivity, Anxious/Shy,
Perfectionism, Social Problems, and Psychosomatic. Along
with: DSM–IV ADHD symptoms, Conners' ADHD Index, Conners' Global
Problem Index, Family Problems, Emotional Problems, Conduct Problems, and
Anger Control Problems. Feedback Forms and graphics give important information in an
easy-to-understand format.

C.
One
of the common assessments /
questionnaires
used to assess behaviors and emotions:

Ages:2
to 21 years 11 months for the Teacher and Parent Rating Scales, Administration Time: 10-20 minutes. Ages:
6 to college student for the Self-Reporting of Personality Scales,
30 minutes to administrator.
You can view Clinical and Adaptive Scales, and download sample of seven
different report types.
The BASC measures 16 primary areas (not all areas are measured on each
Rating Scale. It depends on who is filling the form out (i.e.
parent, teacher and student.), and the student age.) The scales
are in the following areas:
Activities of Daily Living, Functional Communication, Adaptability,
Hyperactivity, Aggression, Leadership, Anxiety, Learning Problems,
Attention Problems, Social Skills, Atypicality, Somatization, Conduct
Disorder, Study Skills, Depression, and Withdrawal.Sample
BASC Report.

3.Neuropsychological
Evaluation
- The Neuropsychological profile gives you a global picture of
your child's approach to doing things, based on patterns of strengths,
weaknesses and integration among a range of neurological measures. A
good way to diagnose ADD, autism, PDD or specific LD issues.
(This evaluation is done when there are learning, behavioral or social
concerns.)

Parent comment:
"This is the best evaluation we ever had done. It told us how our
child learns. He enjoyed the testing, especially missing a day of
school!" M.O.

4. Functional
Behavioral
Assessment (FBA) - Functional behavioral assessment is a
problem-solving
process for addressing student problem behavior. It is used to identify
the purposes of specific behavior and to help IEP team select
interventions to directly address the problem behavior. It is the
process
of determining the cause (or "function") of behavior before developing
an intervention. FBA is used to create
Behavior plans, contain: strategies, document
skills the students need in order to behave in a more appropriate
manner, or plans providing motivation to conform to required
standards. The plan should be proactive, positive intervention
plans that teach new ways of behaving, and address both the source of
the problem, by serving the same function, and the problem itself.
The interventions must
be based on
the hypothesized cause (function) of behavior.

Related Assessments:

5. Speech and Language Evaluation - an
assessment of receptive
language (the ability to understand spoken language), expressive
language
(the ability to formulate and organize oral language and written
language), phonological processing
(the ability to manipulate individual sounds within words),
articulation,
voice, auditory memory, pragmatics (the ability to use language
effectively
to interact with people). One of the commonly used speech and
language test used to assess expressive and receptive oral language is the CELF
= Clinical Evaluation of
Language Fundamentals.

6. Auditory Processing
Evaluation :
An audiologist evaluates, identifies, measures and treats hearing
disorders,
loss and central auditory processing (CAP) issues. This
evaluation is performed by Audiologists
who are found at most major
hospitals, school do not perform this evaluation.

Note: Central
Auditory Processing (CAP) and Visual Processing, also involves
short-term memory, represents the actual quantity of pieces of
information taken in by either the auditory or visual areas of the
brain to understands,
interprets or categorizes information, not the hearing organs
themselves.

8. Physical Therapy (PT)
Evaluation: An
evaluation of physical activities such as sitting, standing, crawling,
walking, running, and climbing. It looks at your child's body strength,
coordination, balance, and symmetry as he
moves and control his body, and how he plans new motor
activities. The PT will want to do know what your concerns are
about your child's development and why you wanted to do have a PT
evaluation. The PT will ask you about your
child's birth history and developmental milestones. Your child's
typical routine during the day and what his favorite and least favorite
activities are, and what sort of outdoor games or playground toys he
enjoys.

9. Assistive
Technology (AT) Assessment: An assessment to find ways to meet
the needs of the
student by matching the strengths and weaknesses of the student to the
device. Key in examining the academic area is
remembering that the device should not be used to replace interactions
with the teacher or peers, nor should it be used to replace instruction
(Garner & Campbell, 1987). The device should enhance interactions
and learning. The goal for AT use is to allow learners to use their
strengths and participate as fully as possible in the school. Some of the commonly used devices and
software programs are listed on our Tools & Technologies webpage.

10. Transition
Assessment (TA): An assessment of
combination of the following types: Paper and pencil tests, structured student
and family interviews, community or work-based assessments (situational) and
curriculum-based assessments. These assessments or procedures come in two
general formats – formal and informal. Informal measures may include
interviews or questionnaires, direct observations, anecdotal records,
environmental or situational analysis, curriculum-based assessments, interest
inventories, preference assessments, and transition planning inventories. Formal
measures include adaptive behavior and independent living assessments, aptitude
tests, interest assessments, intelligence tests, achievement tests, personality
or preference tests, career development measures, on the job or training
evaluations, and measures of self-determination. For a list of 9 catalogues and Transition
Assessment.

11. Home Assessment -
An assessment by an authorized
social worker, nurse, guidance counselor teacher or psychologist.
For
pertinent family history and home situation factors including, with
parental
consent, a home visit.
This assessment includes a description of
pertinent
family history and individual developmental history and estimates of
adaptive
behavior at home, in neighborhood, and in local peer groups.
Estimates of
adaptive behavior are to the greatest possible degree on information
obtained by
direct observation of the child. or direct interview of the child in
the
neighborhood setting.

12. Teacher
Assessment/Observation - An assessment by
the classroom teacher to include current information on the student's
present
level of performance (PLOP) in the general curriculum.

One of our original webpages, created
September, 1999, by Melody Orfei